Last of the Wild West Cowgirls

Author Kay Turnbaugh will read from and sign copies of her new book Last of the Wild West Cowgirls about Goldie Griffith, a cowgirl who worked as a bronco buster for Buffalo Bill and lived in Nederland, on Thursday, August 13, at 7 p.m. at the Nederland Library.

A well-written, well-researched, fun and lively read, Last of the Wild West Cowgirls brings to life the colorful story of local legend and national celebrity Goldie Griffith.

Goldie started her career as one of the country’s first professional female athletes when she was a teenager. She worked with a traveling troupe of lady athletes. She boxed, fenced, and wrestled. But then she met a handsome cowboy, and decided to become a bronco buster and cowgirl—at a time in America when women were thought too delicate to exercise.

Married in Madison Square Garden, with the world-famous Buffalo Bill Cody himself giving her away and 8,000 adoring fans in attendance, Goldie’s wedding had fairy-tale written all over it. But all wasn’t as it seemed. She soon found out that her dashing new cowboy husband had a dark past—he was wanted for murder in Texas. In fact, he’d been tried six times, but never convicted, before he jumped bail to travel with the Wild Wests. And she discovered he was a bigamist. What more could possibly go wrong? For starters, Buffalo Bill’s show went broke in Denver, and Goldie was soon sleeping on hay bales with the stock.

Goldie survived all these trials and more and went on to ranch and become one of the first women entrepreneurs of her time in the small mountain town of Nederland, Colorado. She raised a son and trained dogs for the War Dog effort. She was the first woman to apply for a job as a police officer in San Francisco, helping to open the door for the policewomen of today.

Kay Turnbaugh owned a weekly newspaper in Nederland, Colorado, for 27 years. She spent four years researching and writing this biography of Goldie Griffith. Book sales at Thursday's event will benefit Nederland's new library.

Get the scoop:

Book signing: Last of the Wild West Cowgirls, by Kay Turnbaugh
Thursday, August 13, 7pm
Nederland Library